Contacts
by Razamataz22
Summary: Growing up in the criminal underworld of Konoha, Naruto acquires the skills of the trade in order to take the shinobi world by storm
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

Children of all ages played in the grounds of the orphanage under the careful eye of the people who ran the building. Two women stood on guard in case anything was to happen to the children in which they would step in and ensure that the commotion stopped before anything truly began; as was the case now when they saw a young blonde haired kid getting tackled to the ground by a child who was merely a year older. Yet they waited for half a minute as they watched with sadistic satisfaction as the blonde haired kid's head was slammed into the ground in the tussle repetitively. A punch to the face sent droplets of blood to land on the blades of grass nearby. It was at this point in the brawl that the tides of the fight began to turn as the blonde managed to push the kid on top of him to the side before rolling on top, pulling his fist up ready to strike. Yet the blow never landed as his wrist was caught by one of the staff members who had been watching the scuffle.

"Naruto, go to your room this instant, you should know better than to pick fights," said the lady, her voice tough and stern as Naruto looked up in disbelief.

"But he started it," argued Naruto but it was all for nought.

"And what have I told you about lying, I saw the whole thing, now go to your room!" she exclaimed, her eyes cold and hateful which caused tears to form in the child's eyes. With a huff he stormed off, doing his best not to cry in front of his colleges, it wasn't the damage that made him want to cry but the constant hating that he received. He didn't know why everybody picked on him, it was so unfair. His room wasn't even a proper room.

While everybody else got a nice cosy room he got a minute little storage cupboard barely big enough to fit the sleeping bag he slept on every night. Naruto rubbed his eyes with the back of his sleeve once inside, making sure that he was out of sight of the other children before doing so. Yet he wasn't so lucky to avoid the eyes of everyone. Turning his head, he found himself looking at three men, each wearing black business suits and sunglasses despite the fact they were indoors. It looked like they had been discussing some sort of business with the lady who had been managing the front desk, most likely to adopt a child. It didn't really matter to him though, he had seen hundreds of people walk through that door looking to adopt children, but never once was he ever given a second glance.

"Boy, get over here," said the stern voice of the middle man. Naruto looked around nervously for a moment before pointing at himself as if for reassurance. Receiving a nod, Naruto nervously stepped forward, wondering what it was that this man wanted with him. As he came to a standstill he couldn't help but feel intimidated by the three men, each of them unmoving yet their posture gave an air of power that was frightening to the young boy.

"C-can I help you?" stuttered Naruto as he swallowed nervously.

"What's your name boy?" asked the middle man once more.

"Uzumaki Naruto," answered the blonde kid solemnly, as if his name had some sort of curse around it that would now send the man's attention elsewhere. Yet the three men remained as they were, which caused a small amount of worry to form within Naruto. Even when the bigger kids picked on him he had never felt so intimidated.

"This is the one we were after," said the middle man once more, the two men by his side not even flinching with this new development. "Bring out the forms so I can adopt Naruto."

"Are you sure sir?" asked the clerk, unsure if the man knew exactly what he was doing. "We have a vast number of other better children that are up for adoption if you care to have a look." There was no movement from the man in the centre except a quick flick of the head which caused the man to his left side to pull out a wad of notes from his suit and place a handful on the table. "Actually I believe Naruto here would be the perfect choice," said the lady as she slid the cash off of the desk and started pulling up the files necessary for the adoption. Naruto however was completely baffled by the sudden change in the lady's attitude, for as long as he remembered she had always told customers that he was the last person they should ever adopt. The quick change in personality while frightening also brought on a sense of curiosity as to what had occurred.

"Renku, go with young Naruto here to collect his gear," instructed the man who was soon to become Naruto's adoptive father.

"Yes boss," said the newly identified Renku. He was a tall stout man that towered over everybody else in the room by a good foot. His black hair was sleeked back into perfection while a tiny amount of stubble had begun to form on his chin. "Lead the way kid."

"Oh...sure," said Naruto nervously, "This way." Walking down the lonesome corridor listening to the heavy footprints of the giant Renku was ominous to say the least, as if Naruto was being stalked by a monster of some kind. "Here's my room," said Naruto as he opened the door, revealing the tiny living quarters that had held him for the last few years. If Renku was disgusted by this scene his face didn't show it, he face was like that of a statue, chiselled and unwavering.

"Is there a bag we can use?" asked Renku looking down at the small form of the blonde haired boy.

"Hold on one second," said Naruto as he started running through the corridor before coming to the kitchen. He knew his way around the area pretty well as he often snuck in here to get a late night snack since his meals always seemed smaller than the other children's. Reaching into a drawer, he pulled out an unused garbage bag and quickly made his way back to Renku, not wanting to keep the man waiting.

It didn't take long for the two of them to pack Naruto's gear, or at least the stuff that was worth taking with them. As they met up with Renku's associates it was just at that time that they had finished filling out the final form. "Thank you for your business," said the clerk with a polite bow.

"So...are you my new dad?" asked Naruto to the man who had been signing the papers, his eyes full of hope of actually being part of a family once more.

"Call me Boss kid, everybody else does," said his adoptive father, being somewhat cold yet more comforting than the adults Naruto had previously grown up with. A smile crossed Naruto's face just from the thought that somebody was socialising with him in a way that wasn't abusive or threatening.

"Sure Boss," said Naruto, more cheerful than he had been in years.

"Renku, take Naruto here to his new home, try not to get into too much trouble on the way," said Boss as he turned and walked out the door. "I've just got some business to take care of in town."

"Got it Boss," said Renku as he slung the garbage bag filled with Naruto's essentials over his shoulders while Boss and the other man who had come in with the two of them walked out of sight. "C'mon squirt, let's go."

Stepping out the front door of the orphanage was one of the grandest experiences Naruto had ever had, a feeling of freedom washed over him, it was as if the air felt fresher on this side of the wall. The look on Naruto's face didn't go unnoticed by Renku but he remained silent, allowing the blonde to enjoy this moment for as long as he could. He waited for nearly a minute before deciding to speak up. "You going to watch the sun set or we going to get you moved in?" he asked in a slightly teasing manner despite his face remaining passive.

"So how far away is this place?" asked Naruto, wanting to get as far away from the orphanage as possible.

"It's far off in the Eastern suburbs of Konoha," explained Renku as the two walked side by side.

"So how long will it take to get there?" asked Naruto, finding himself full of questions he wanted answered.

"As long as it takes to get there," said Renku with a mild chuckle as Naruto pouted at the answer. It didn't take long for the two of them to leave the property that the orphanage was built upon before making their way through the busy streets of Konoha. Naruto continued to look around at the surroundings in awe; everything just seemed so new and fresh. Off in the distance he could see the Hokage monument, the four greatest ninjas of the village watching down on the citizens protectively. A smile graced Naruto's face as he pictured his own sculpture sitting up there, his eyes watching all those who lived in his village.

"Don't get lost now," said Renku as he guided Naurto towards a back alley and in an instant the friendly atmosphere he had seen moments before vanished. The sun seemed to be blotted out from the tall buildings that towered above him. Sitting against a nearby wall was an elderly beggar; her hair was gray and wild, as if it hadn't come into contact with water for months if not years. At the sound of footsteps she lifted her head, hoping that a spare coin would be chucked her way. Naruto freaked out slightly at this at the sight of one of the lady's eyes having glazed over like a thick mist. Yet seeing that it was Renku standing above her she dropped her head once more, not able to muster the courage to ask the tall man if he had any spare change.

"I don't like this shortcut," said Naruto as they came to the end of the alley.

"Get used to it kid, cause this is no shortcut," explained Renku. Now that they had come to somewhat of an open area, Naruto was quick to survey his surroundings. Unlike the other part of Konoha which had been full of people, this area was rather desolate of life. In a corner several men gambled with dice, one man losing several thousand ryu in a single moment, his moans of disappointment easily penetrated the otherwise soundless pavilion. There were several teens huddled in a corner, as if they were part of some gang. When they looked at Renku and Naruto, the younger boy swore that he saw glimpses of desperation in their eyes, a wild look that said they were willing to do anything for some quick money.

Naruto turned his sight away from them as he and Renku passed the teens and Naruto turned his attention to other areas as if trying to figure out if there was anything else worthwhile around. That was his biggest mistake as he heard the sound of light feet running towards him but before he could turn around to see what was going on, a hand was slapped onto his mouth as he felt the cold metal of a knife being pressed against his throat. "Give us your money or the kid gets it!" threatened one of the teens, Naruto unsure which one as he was currently trying not to have a panic attack at the thought that he could die at any given moment. Renku turned around slowly, his emotions still unwavering as he looked at the teens before looking at Naruto.

"What makes you think that I care what happens to the brat?" asked Renku which made Naruto's eyes go wide in shock. "However I'm sure if Boss found out what you were doing to his son no matter how much money I gave you it wouldn't cover your hospital bills."

"Boss' son?" repeated one of the teens.

"Can you imagine what it feels like to have a single bone broken in three different places?" asked Renku as he stepped forward ever so slowly, his aura becoming more menacing with every passing breath. "Now imagine that not with a single bone, but all of them. Splintered, fractured, wounds that would haunt you for the rest of your life. Several years from that moment, after the final surgery we would find you once more, just to do it all again, cause Boss is not a forgiving man. So if you know what's good for you, get the knife away from the brat."

By this stage the teens were sweating bullets, all of them knowing a few of the vendettas that Boss held. With that being said, they knew it was a list they never wished to be a part of. Slowly, the knife was removed before the teens bolted away, fearing for their life as Naruto rubbed his neck, still in shock over how close he had been to death. As his senses slowly came back to him, he looked up at Renku with saddened anger. "Why would you say that you don't care what happens to me? I could have been killed!" exclaimed Naruto, his emotions overflowing at this point.

"Because if I said that I did care, there would have been a higher chance," explained Renku, this answer though only served to confuse Naruto. Adjusting his grip on the garbage bag that hung over his shoulder, the thug decided to give Naruto a quick lesson in what had just happened. "There are several things you're going to be learning over the next year or two and you'll need to learn them quickly if you want to survive. A couple of these lessons include never showing your emotions, and negotiations, both of which I used just before."

"Negotiations?" repeated Naruto slowly, not quite sure what the word meant.

"Simply, talking with risks attached," said Renku breaking it down as simply as he could. "Just then, I negotiated with your life on the line, most negotiations though are over money contracts and things of similar nature. If when I'd been threatening those teens, some emotions slipped and I didn't sound or look as threatening as I did, then they wouldn't have been scared off and you would be dead in a pool of your own blood."

"So you do care about me...but if you had said that you had...I'd be dead," summarised Naruto, realising just how scary the world was outside the orphanage walls. Somehow getting told off everyday didn't seem like too much of a hassle anymore.

"If you wish to believe so," said Renku as he turned his back on Naruto, the blonde boy pouting at the lack of information but decided not to try and pry anything else out of the man. They travelled down several more alleyways, each with their own set of characters and buildings before they finally stood in front of a single store...or something along those lines, Naruto wasn't quite sure. There were no signs or anything that explained what the place was but even Naruto could tell by the structure that this wasn't a house.

"Welcome to your new home brat," said Renku, gesturing for Naruto to enter. That one word though was unfamiliar to Naruto; 'home' was a strange term to get his head around. Nevertheless, putting on a brave face he pushed open the door and walked inside. He wasn't quite sure what he had been expecting when he had walked in, but a woman who was completely naked was definitely not on his list.

"Sorry cutie, you're way too young to be in here, let alone ride the ride," said the brunette as she shooed Naruto back towards the door, not really caring that she wasn't doing anything to hide her appearance from the child.

"Not today Makina, this brat's here for the long run," said Renka as he stepped through the door. "Boss just adopted him."

"Really," said Makina in surprise as she walked to a nearby table and grabbed a dressing gown, finally deciding to clothe herself. "I didn't know Boss wanted a kid."

"I didn't know you had any customers today," said Renka showing the first bit of emotion Naruto had seen of him so far, the lifting of a single eyebrow. For the young child though this was something he had to take note of because it ruled out the possibility of the tall man being an expressionless robot.

"No customers so far, hence why I wasn't afraid to strut my stuff," said Makina playfully, sticking her tongue out at the tall man like a child would.

"Renka, what stuff was she strutting?" asked Naruto of the bodyguard. Of all the questions that the young boy had asked, this was the one that left the bodyguard stumbling for an answer, having no real clue how to go about telling Naruto things like that. Thankfully he was relieved of such duties as Makina knelt down beside the young boy, patting him lightly on the head.

"You don't need to know for a few more years yet, but if you ask some of the other ladies nicely I'm sure they'll get a laugh out of telling you," said Makina struggling to suppress a giggle, knowing what the response of some of her work colleges would be like.

"Anyways, Boss should be back soon so would you be kind enough to show Naruto around while I dump his stuff in his room," Renka asked.

"It's not like I've got anything better to do," said Makina as she got to her feet. "C'mon kid, I'll show you around."

"I do have a name you know, it's Naruto" said the blonde starting to get fed up of people calling him 'brat' and 'kid.'

"Na, kid's good enough," said Makina sticking her tongue out at Naruto much like she had to Renka. Unlike Renka though Naruto took the liberty of sticking his tongue out straight back at Makina to which she lightly bopped him on the head.

"What was that for?" he asked as he rubbed the sore part.

"Cause I felt like it, c'mon already I'll show you around," said Makina as she gestured for Naruto to follow her, the blonde doing just that which in turn left Renka to his own devices.

...

It would be later that afternoon when the Sandaime Hokage found the time to meander down to the orphanage, his paperwork finished for the day. As he walked along the path, he took the time to enjoy the scenery and enjoy the fresh air that was so much better than the stale smell that wafted around his office. He did his best to visit the orphanage on a weekly basis to bring some joy to the young children there, more importantly though to see Naruto and make sure that he was getting treated fairly. Even though he always said that everything was alright he could always see that the boy was lying just to make sure that the Hokage didn't have to worry about anything. This in turn only made Sarutobi more worried.

Stepping through the doors, he gave a polite wave to the young woman at the desk. "Ah, Hokage-sama, what a pleasant surprise," she said with a smile and a small bow of respect.

"I thought I'd spent enough time in the office today," said Sarutobi as he shared the smile that the administration clerk had given him. "Is Naruto around? I want to speak with him before I see the rest of the children."

"Actually, Naruto was adopted today," said the clerk with a smile. An intrigued look fell upon Sarutobi's face as he opted to not worry about whether or not the woman was smiling because of they were in a good mood or if it was because Naruto was gone. He wouldn't even had been surprised if both options were connected with one another. "I have the forms here if you wish to have a look."

"Thank you," said Sarutobi as he took the forms from the clerk, quickly sifting through the information before coming to the name of the adoptive parent. He hid the fact that he could instantly tell that it was a fake name, nobody that he knew of in Konoha had the name of 'Peter James.'

"What did these people look like?" asked Sarutobi, hoping to get a little more information. He was quickly gifted with a list of details ranging from what they were wearing to their size and even how they combed their hair. "Thank you," said the wise man as he returned the papers. "I'll be seeing the rest of the children now."

As Sarutobi walked towards the outside area where he knew a majority of the kids would be playing, his mind processed all of the information he had been given and instantly knew who it was that had adopted the blonde haired boy. The question was though, what plans did the Yakuza have now that they had adopted Naruto into their clan.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

"...and this is where we go to have a relaxing smoke after a day's work," explained Makina as she finished giving the young boy the tour of the building. For the young boy this had been a lot to take in and as expected Naruto had asked questions about the purpose of a number of rooms, especially those with what seemed like overly large bed mattresses that weren't in bedrooms. Unfortunately he hadn't received an answer to that question as somebody else had walked into the room at that moment and thus distracted Makina, much to the brunette's delight.

"Just wondering," said Naruto making Makina once again think, 'what now?' "What job do you actually do here?"

"Our job is one that only grownups can do to other grownups, or sometimes young ninja," answered Makina, being vague about exactly what it was that was going on.

"Why young ninja and not other young people?" asked Naruto, wondering why shinobi were seemingly exempt from some rules he was unaware of.

"As far as I know, when kids graduate from the academy, it goes something along the lines of 'you're old enough to kill, you're old enough for...' Can't really remember the last part," lied Makina rubbing the back of her head.

"Then you can tell me what your job is because I'm going to be the Hokage one day," boasted Naruto.

"Sure thing kid," said Makina in a sarcastic tone, causing Naruto to puff up but before he could vent out against her somebody else spoke up.

"The Hokage is the strongest person in the village," said Boss as he walked through the doorway, having heard the last bit of conversation the two had had. "You should know though that strength is not everything."

"Hey Boss," said Makina, greeting her employer with a light bow.

"What do you mean Boss?" asked Naruto, Makina lightly slapping the kid on the back of the head for not being polite.

"It's fine Makina, he'll learn in time," said Boss waving it off. "As for the answer to your question, personal strength is only as good as the ability one has to use it. You can have unlimited Kami like abilities but if you don't have the brainpower to be able to use it properly then they are as good as having no power at all. For example, if you were assigned to be a bodyguard and your client was attacked would you rather use a simple but effective technique or an overly powerful technique that covered a large area and cannot fail?"

"The one that can't fail!" exclaimed Naruto in excitement; he was starting to like his adoptive father more and more.

"Wrong," said Boss calmly, as if knowing that that was going to be Naruto's answer.

"But it can't fail, so it makes it better," said Naruto confused.

"True, but remember you are protecting someone. If your technique is wide spread it may even consume your client, and if you kill your client you fail the mission. Get my drift?" asked Boss.

"I think so," said Naruto slowly, letting the information sink in.

"Consider that you're first lesson, Renku and Makina here will teach you everything you need to know about surviving in our world," said Boss, his eyes shifting to Makina to make sure that she got the message.

"As you wish Boss," said Makina with a smile, glad to be of service. Although internally she grieved at the fact she would become Naruto's personal tutor, in the long run she could see the benefits of these sort of things but for now she doubted it was going to be anything but annoying.

"Am I going to learn how to fight along with everything else?" asked Naruto.

Boss paused before speaking momentarily, opting to turn and face the other man who stood beside him seemingly at all times as if like a shadow. "Do we have any shinobi indebted to us at the moment?" he asked of his college.

"Not at this moment Boss," responded the man, his face unwavering which Naruto seemed to realise was a rather universal thing around here.

"Give it a year or so Naruto, before you learn to fight though you're going to be learning a whole lot more, and you better not disappoint me," said Boss, a mild tinge of a threatening tone present in his voice. Before Naruto could say anything in response the man by Boss' side lifted up his hand, to reveal that instead of the five digits that should have been on display there were only four. This detail quickly sank in and nodded feverously; he liked his fingers after all. "You live under my roof so you play under my rules just like everybody else, just because you are legally my son doesn't mean that you are exempt from any punishment. All the people who live under this roof are bound to one another in some way or form, treat them as your family and they will do the same."

While his words held a malicious tone to them, Naruto could easily work out the fundamental rule that he had to follow: do bad things and bad things will happen to you. "Anything you want me to teach him first off Boss?" asked Makina, wondering where she should start her tutoring.

"Renku will deal with more of the intimidation aspect, somehow I picture young Naruto here turning into someone who simply can stand there and his aura radiates 'don't fuck with me,'" said Boss, clearly not minding using offensive language in the presence of children. "I want you to teach him the basic of the basics. How to write, speak, those sort of things. Give it two years I want him to have all the knowhow to be able to make a business transaction of his own."

"Gotcha Boss," said Makina, happy to the point where she didn't have to worry about something that would be too strenuous. Sure it would be interesting to see whether or not Naruto would be able to pull off an official transaction when he was only eight in a couple of years time but it would be entertaining all the while. "You got all that kid?"

"I think so..." said Naruto in an uncertain tone, unable to fully comprehend everything that had just been said.

"Good cause it's getting late," said Makina as she looked out the nearby window to see the sun setting behind the Hokage monument. "You should be off to bed before study tomorrow."

Naruto opened his mouth to argue but he quickly remembered what could potentially happen to him if he chose to disobey the orders of his superiors. While the rules seemed more relaxed in this setting as opposed to the orphanage, the consequences were vastly more severe to the point where you would wear your punishment for the rest of your life. "Okay," he muttered in a defeated tone. "Goodnight Boss," he said before he turned around and made his way to his room.

Walking down the isolated corridor without the guiding hand of Makina directing him was daunting at first but his memory soon kicked in and he recalled exactly which turns he needed to make in order to find his room once more. In comparison to the small area he had lived in for several years, he had automatically fell in love with the room. The spacious interior, while it wouldn't seem so big when he got a bit bigger, was more than enough. There was a single bed pushed against the corner of the room where moonlight would gracefully caress his cheek while he slept. There was a wardrobe near the door that Renku had filled with the few sets of clothes that he had but hopefully within the coming days there would be a time where he could get a brand new wardrobe. The carpet across the floor felt wonderful on his feet like freshly mown grass. There was a smell in the air though, something that he couldn't recognise from any of his memories; as such he had no real idea what the person who had stayed in this room before him had done but it seemed that even with the breeze coming in through the window it wasn't enough to remove the stench.

With a yawn Naruto stretched the air, even though he had wanted to stay up longer he couldn't ignore the fact that the day had been long and filled with everything he had ever desired. Moving to his wardrobe he grabbed out the small pyjamas and quickly dressed in them and got ready for bed. Pulling the blanket off the bed, Naruto looked at it in disgust momentarily before climbing in, knowing that he would ask Renku if he could clean the sheets tomorrow. While he could sleep on it tonight he was still slightly annoyed that there were stains on the bed sheets.

...

"Alright brat, I've been given the task of giving you a bit of training under Boss' orders," said Renku as he stood in an isolated room with Naruto. "If I remember correctly, Boss said that he wanted you to have a 'don't screw with me' attitude. While Makina will teach you a couple of the other aspects today, I'm going to be working on something very specific."

"Are you going to teach me how to fight?" asked Naruto, his eyes lighting up at the possibility.

"No, anything I taught you now would be useless once you start learning actual shinobi arts, provided that's still what you want to do when you're older," explained Renku.

"I'm definitely going to be a ninja," said Naruto boldly.

"Well one thing about being a ninja is that no matter what happens in a fight, you're always going to get hurt," said Renku, putting his hand up to prevent Naruto from butting in. "Even the strongest ninjas get hit from time to time so don't say any crap about how you'd be a ninja that doesn't get hit. I can't teach you how to dodge blows, but I can teach you how to take them."

"Why would I want to take them?" asked Naruto, Renku's teachings seemingly incredibly strange.

"The intimidation factor," said Renku slowly, letting his words sink in. "If you get punched in the face and cower away as a result, you show weakness to your enemy. However, if you get punched in the face and don't react at all, you get a psychological advantage over them, something which can help you win any fight."

"Getting punched helps you win?" questioned Naruto as Renku knelt by his side. Without warning the large man punched the boy in the shoulder, nothing bone breaking but with enough force to cause pain to shoot into the blonde's arm. "Ow, what'd you do that for?" asked Naruto as he rubbed his shoulder, only to receive another punch.

"I'm going to keep punching your shoulder for the next hour unless you can prove to me that you have the ability to overcome your pain," said Renku as he punched Naruto again. The bodyguard knew that if he used any more strength than he currently was the small boy would be knocked to the ground but he knew that he had to start off slow and gradually work his way up. "If you can look at me dead in the eyes without any sign of pain before time is up we'll stop."

With this information, Naruto looked up at Renku hoping to stop this before it got too serious, yet the tears swelling in his eyes and the constant sniffles didn't help sell the boy's strength, earning him another punch. "This is a strength of mind assignment, show me what you can do," said Renku as he once more punched Naruto, never once using more force than necessary. "Only 59 minutes to go."

Sadly for the young boy, the hour would pass without and reprieve as he struggled to failed to overcome the pain.

...

**Guest: Yes, it is a cliché start but that doesn't mean that it will follow the same path that others do. Have some faith that this won't simply turn into something that becomes identical to another story.**

**Shootingcuz: Yes he will still become a ninja just, not the bubbly one that he is in canon.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

Several months passed as Naruto began to better understand the world that he now lived in. It wasn't as if his family were 'bad' people in any real shape or form, but rather they did things that technically weren't good. Naruto knew that the training he had been doing with Renku, while brutal for the time being, would be beneficial for him in the long run. While the pain inflicted on him still hurt he was becoming more and more adapt at hiding his pain behind fake smiles and passive faces. It didn't look like he was enjoying the punishment by any regards but it looked as if he was merely ignoring it.

Every time that Naruto managed to get a grasp on a new pain threshold, Renku would reward him by upping the pressure of his strikes or focusing on another part of the body. While this would seen by most as a horrible way to treat a child, Naruto worked out that this meant that he was getting stronger and continued to push himself.

Makina's training was much more peaceful, the two of them finding a secluded room and going over letters and numbers in a trivial manner. He absorbed information like a sponge to water but often left critical bits of information out. It was clear that he was always trying his best and he was ahead of schedule, clearly wanting to show Boss that he was more than capable. As Boss was happy with his progress, he gave Naruto a reward. Unlike the reward that Renku gave however this one was more beneficial in a way. That was how Naruto found himself sitting in with Boss and a client.

Most of the conversation went over Naruto's head, he was able to quickly pick up the words but at the same time didn't quite know how to process them. The man talking with Boss was a meat merchant who had started a business in the middle of town but was struggling to make ends meet as his business wasn't well known yet.

"And you say you have the finest products?" questioned Boss as he took a puff on the cigar he held between his fingers. Naruto really didn't understand why Boss put such a disgusting thing to his lips; just the second hand smoke he inhaled tasted yucky, Naruto couldn't imagine what directly breathing that thing in would taste like.

"I employ ninjas to bring me the freshest products from around the country," claimed the salesman who was on his knees in front of Boss. "I refuse to sell my clients anything that's second rate."

"I admire your effort," said Boss as he knelt forward. "I will take your debt from you but you'll pay me back everything you owe me by this time next year along with an extra twenty percent. Furthermore, every week you will provide a hamper and one of my men will come pick it up free of charge."

"You are most gracious," said the salesman as he bowed his head, the top of his brow touching the floorboards. Without another word being said between them, the meat merchant got to his feet and with one more bow he left the room.

Naruto stood there with an array of questions floating around in his head but he dared not speak any of them out in case he upset Boss. Whether keeping his mouth closed for the moment would be beneficial in the long run he couldn't tell, nor did he really mind at this point.

"Something troubling you?" questioned Boss.

For a brief moment Naruto scanned the rest of the room to ensure that there was nobody else in the room. Realising it was just him and Boss, Naruto swallowed nervously before responding. "Nothing important Boss," he said with a minor quiver in his voice.

"What I've found over the years is that every small detail is important," said Boss still not making eye contact with the blonde who now stood by his side. "A change in temperature can mean much more than the changing of the seasons. Most would think of such a thing as nothing but others would pick up on the smallest details and realise that a storm is on its way."

"I think I understand," said Naruto still slightly unsure of what Boss was telling him.

"Show me," said Boss finally turning his head to look at Naruto. "You have by nightfall to find five things that are out of the ordinary and figure out what this might mean. Use those writing skills you're learning from Makina and bring me your results before the end of the day."

"Sure thing boss!" exclaimed Naruto as he rushed off, the challenge filling him full of excitement. As the door closed behind Naruto as he charged down the hallway, Boss found himself being the only one left in the chamber and allowed a smile to creep across his lips. Whether or not Naruto managed to accomplish the task ahead Boss had a present for him for the end of the day.

...

"Out of the ordinary," repeated Naruto as his eyes scanned around the kitchen, trying to see if he could spot something out of place. He knew that he had to find the best things he could in order to impress Boss, anything less would not likely meet Boss' expectations. Opening up the fridge, his eyes scanned over the same contents that had been there during breakfast. Considering only a few hours had passed there was nothing he could really comment about. With a sigh, he closed the fridge but not before getting his hands on some chocolate that somebody had stashed in the back corner.

With it being the middle of the afternoon there wasn't a great deal going on within the building. It would still be a bit of time before the evening clients came in but waiting for them may not be able to give him more results than he already had. It hadn't taken him long to work out just what it was that happened within the ground floor of the building behind the satin sheets. It also helped that once he learnt how to read the signs that littered the building were numerous rules for guests. It didn't take long to put two and two together.

With nobody being here however this was the perfect chance for Naruto to actually have a look through the areas where he had only been permitted to go when accompanied by somebody else. Finishing off the chocolate he had acquired, Naruto wiped his hands on his trouser legs before turning down the hallways he knew like the back of his hand, all the while his eyes scanning for anything that may seem out of place.

Reaching the room lined with satin drapes, one thing automatically stood out to Naruto, the fact that one of the small rooms was occupied. Calling it a room however was a bit of an overstatement but Naruto had no real idea what else to call it so he simply went with it. Taking a glance side to side he made sure that nobody else was around before sneaking forward.

His logic told him that nobody should be in here at this time of day, heck even most of Boss' employees were out in town somewhere. So why was it that not only was one of the workers but also a client currently locked away?

For the safety of the workers, everybody was forbidden from taking anything metallic into the rooms and all objects were placed in a small basket outside the room. Taking the opportunity, Naruto found himself looking through the belongings, not necessarily to take anything but just to see what the client had brought with them. Needless to say that when he found a couple of kunai and a brand new Konoha headband he was more than a little surprised.

Naruto's eyes squinted as he looked over the items once more. A couple of kunai that had yet to have dirt on the edges or lose its sharpness and a headband that had yet to take a single scratch, the fabric didn't even look like a thread had yet come loose. Naruto's eyes lifted so that he looked at the enclosed space where he knew this person was being 'entertained.' Naruto started adding all of the pieces of the puzzle together.

The awkward timing of the day, a brand new set of kunai and a shinobi headband.

Looking back on his past lessons, his eyes widened as he realised just what was going on. The person who had come in was a fresh Genin, most likely just out of the academy that their Jonin sensei had treated to an adult experience. "Yes," said Naruto as he clenched his fist, happy to have found one thing he could put down on his list. His happiness didn't last long however as he found his face whipping to the side as a cane cracked across his cheek.

The pain was sharp and pinpoint and Naruto had no doubt that some blood had been drawn but thanks to Naruto's training no emotion truly crossed his face other than confusion. Turning to face his attacker he found a boot rocketing towards his face.

Nothing Renku had thrown at him could brace him for this.

Naruto fell to the floor with blood streaming from his nose, the appendage undoubtedly broken from the strike. Naruto did his best to fight back the tears that threatened to swell in his eyes. Unceremoniously he found himself being lifted off the ground by his hair.

"What's going on here?"

Hope filled Naruto's mind as he recognised the voice of his Renku, Boss' faithful bodyguard before the person holding him spoke up. "We found this runt of a brat rummaging through somebody's belongings the filthy little thief. Should we execute him for you or would the holder of your leash want the pleasure of making an example of him?"

"Well let's take him to Boss, I'm sure he'll think of a suitable solution," said Renku as he stepped out of the path of the hallway, allowing Naruto's captors to walk through dragging the blonde haired boy along.

It didn't take long for them to go through the passageways and Naruto found himself once again inside Boss' chambers, this time in the company of these strangers and Renku. Now that Naruto had pushed the pain to the back of his mind he was able to look at Boss without any pain being visible on his face, despite the fact that his clothes had been showered in his own blood.

"What do we have here?" questioned Boss, his voice calm and collected despite the scenario.

"This little prick was rummaging through someone's belongings," commented the man who tossed Naruto to the ground. "Should we cut off one of his hands so that he learns never to steal again?"

"I believe such a punishment is not necessary for my son," replied Boss as he sat back against his chair.

"Your...your son?" repeated the man as his eyes shifted from Boss to Naruto several times as if realising the mistake that he had made.

"I'm sure that this was a simple misunderstanding," said Boss waving the situation off. "I'm sure both of you have learnt your lesson."

"My sincerest apologies," said the man with a small bow. "I didn't mean to strike out at your child and only acted how I best saw fit."

"I believe some introductions are in order," said Boss as the blonde finally turned to look at the man who had struck him. He was a small man with a thin moustache that barely touched his top lip. He wore black sunglasses despite being indoors and wore a very fine suit and tie. "Naruto, this here is Gato, the founder of Gato Company."

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Just before you get bitchy with me about how long it has taken this update to come out, I'll let you guys know that I'm currently on vacation in a party town in a different country. I've taken time off of snowboarding, mountain climbing, meeting random people and getting drunk every night to bring you this chapter. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

"Hold still," instructed Renku as he grabbed Naruto's nose making the blonde boy wince in pain. That was all the warning Naruto was given before the man snapped Naruto's nose back into place. "There, at least it'll heal itself properly now," said Renku as he admired his handiwork. "If you'd left it as it was it'd heal out of shape, and as entertaining as it would be you'd hate me for it down the track."

"So who was that man?" asked Naruto as he tried to get his attention off of his nose, figuring that the less he thought about it the less it would hurt. "He seemed like he was important."

"Not really," said Renku. "Or at least that's how it is for the moment. He's just a small fish in a big ocean, problem is though he's targeting those with less than him and gaining his finances in less than discreet ways. Give it a few years and he'll likely be someone to keep an eye on."

"So what does he want with Boss?" asked Naruto.

"Who knows, guys like him who came from the bottom will use any means necessary to get to the top. He might be here to get a loan or he might even be here to buy Boss off," said Renku with a shrug. "Chances are though Boss won't buy into whatever Gato's selling."

"If it's a potential business venture though, wouldn't it be profitable to take whatever deal it might be?" asked Naruto recalling the various teachings that he had been given. Had nobody seen the boy at that time they could have sworn that the question had came from a middle aged business man, minus the unbroken voice of course.

"Seems you've been paying attention to Makina's lessons after all," said Renku, a rare smile crossing his lips. For a boy who had barely turned the tender age of five years he seemed to know more about the real world than people many times his age. "In any business, you need to weigh up your pros and cons not only in monetary situations but in every other venture as well. This is the only reason why the Hokage allows us to operate in Konoha."

"Wait, the Hokage knows that we're here?" asked Naruto. "I thought this place was all hush hush and stuff."

"Yes, while we don't operate on the same line as ninja we aren't simply allowed to do what we please. There's a long list of unspoken rules that we have to follow and Boss has to make sure that any deal he makes does not break these rules."

"How does he know what these rules are if they're unspoken?" asked Naruto, his busted nose all but pushed to the back of his mind.

"Years in the business, you'll learn them all one day even if we're not the ones to tell you," said Renku as the sound of a nearby door opened. Both he and Naruto turned to see Gato walk out of the Boss' office with a scowl caressing his lips in a twisted way. The short man tossed a spiteful glance at Naruto, as if the failure of his proposition was solely on the fact that he had abused Boss' son. Without another word Gato and his cronies stormed past Renku and Naruto and quickly left.

"Somehow I don't think the meeting went that well," noted Naruto.

"No shit kid," said Renku as he rubbed the top of Naruto's hair. "Let's go talk to Boss."

Getting up from his seated position, Naruto followed Renku into Boss' office where they found the man calmly smoking on a pipe, the tobacco fumes gently gliding through the air. Neither Naruto nor Renku said the first word, for Boss to be puffing away on his pipe meant that he was calming himself down, which in turn could only mean that while Gato was angry Boss was fuming. Several minutes passed before Boss looked directly at the two in front of him rather than at the pipe he held in his hand.

"Naruto, I believe you still have a task to accomplish," he said recalling the assignment he had set earlier in the day.

"Crud, I completely forgot," said Naruto as he rushed out of the room, his mind suddenly back on track to what Boss had told him to do earlier. As he left, Renku closed the door and shut out everybody else from Boss' office.

"Do you want me to have him taken out?" asked Renku.

"No, as much joy as that would bring me I promised myself that I wouldn't my hands anymore. You recall that day, all those years ago," said Boss as he reminisced.

"Yes, but that was years ago, I thought you would have gone back to your old ways by now," said Renku.

"The only reason that I haven't is because of Naruto," said Boss with a content sigh. "Years from now when we're dead and gone I want him to be able to make a difference, and not in the same way we did."

"Well are you still keen on putting him through the ninja academy?"

"Absolutely, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten him his present for tonight," said Boss with a small grin.

...

"..all because they couldn't get into the bathroom," concluded Naruto as he finished the report he had written to Boss, Renku and Makina. Holding the paper in front of him, he watched as Makina walked forward and looked at Naruto's piece.

"There are a few grammatical and spelling errors but that's to be expected," she said as she looked over his work. "I still don't quite know how you spelt my name wrong or how you managed to find something wrong with me but you're definitely improving."

"Thank you," said Naruto beaming.

"Of course that means that I can go even harder on you now," said Makina with a twisted smile that Naruto was used to now.

"Now, since you completed the task that I set out for you to do, it seems only fit that I reward you somehow," mused Boss. "You can come in now."

Confused, Naruto turned to face the door as it opened to reveal a shinobi standing there, garbed in a Chunin jacket, headband and everything. Naruto turned back to Boss with a look in his eye much like he would at Christmas and was given the one thing he wanted most of all. "Really!" he exclaimed.

"Indeed, Itachi here will be teaching you some basics over the next week, I trust that you take these lessons to heart as it may be some time before we can hire another tutor," said Boss.

"Nice to meet you Naruto," said Itachi. "I hope this week I'll be able to teach you some things that you'll find useful down the track."

"Your lessons begin tomorrow morning Naruto, so for the next week instead of lessons with me you'll have them with Itachi," explained Renku.

"Thank you so much," said Naruto with a big cheesy grin plastered on his face.

"Now go get some sleep, Itachi wants you at Training Ground 4 at sunrise," said Boss to which Naruto quickly nodded and rushed out the room, closing the door behind him as he passed Itachi.

"Thanks for agreeing to this," said Renku to the ninja. "Pretty sure the kid's dream is to have his face carved on the monument."

"I had to agree to something, how would I have erased my debt otherwise," said Itachi with a shrug of the shoulders. "If that is all I shall take my leave."

"By all means," said Boss with a wave of his hand.

Leaving the office, Itachi made his way through the maze of corridors and had to push a few needy hands away as he walked through one area in particular. Recalling what he had seen of the blonde boy he knew that he could begin to construct his report to the Hokage. The village leader would be glad to know that the child he thought of as a member of his family was doing well.

...

**Hope you enjoyed, even though I know it's a short chapter.**

**No guarantees on when the next chapter will be out, like I said in the beginning I'm on vacation so I can't predict the next time I'll have computer access, or want to be on a computer for that matter. Until next time.**

**Ja ne.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

Naruto stood in the centre of the training ground nervously, having been in the one spot since well before the sun's first rays had crept over the horizon. The young boy had hardly been able to sleep the previous night because of excitement for what lay ahead. Five years old and he was already going to start learning how to be a ninja. It didn't really bother him that the person who was going to be teaching him looked only about twelve years old, all that meant was that the boy was clearly a good shinobi despite his age.

"Good to see you here bright and early," commented Itachi as he appeared behind Naruto as if by magic.

Twisting around on the spot (and nearly falling over as a result of a mixture of speed and fright) Naruto saw his teacher for the week, as well as a young boy roughly his age who shared a very similar appearance to Itachi. "If you don't mind me asking, who is that?" asked Naruto recalling the lessons in manners that Makino had been giving him.

"This is my younger brother, Sasuke," introduced Itachi putting a hand on the shoulder of the black haired boy. "When he heard that I was going to be teaching you he practically demanded that he come along as well."

Naruto eyed up the newcomer and while and other kid his age would likely see the potential for a new friend, Naruto's mind raced through several other lessons that he had been given. Here was a boy roughly his own age, the younger brother of somebody who was already Chunin in rank. Gathering from that, he considered that there was a fair chance that Itachi and Sasuke hailed from a ninja clan. He tried to recall whether or not he had heard of their family name the day prior but that single detail seemed to have slipped his mind for the moment. Yet if what he was considering was true, then he believed it would be advantageous in the long run to become Sasuke's friend. The blonde blinked a couple of times as he quickly went over what had just gone through his head; he really needed to know when to switch off this side of him and just enjoy himself.

"Are you alright?" asked Sasuke as he looked at the mix of confusion spreading across Naruto's face.

"Yea, just over thinking some things," said Naruto sheepishly as he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you," he said as he extended his hand.

"Uchiha Sasuke," said the black haired boy as he took the hand with his own, slightly unsure as to what it meant. He had seen his father do it on a number of occasions with guests of the household yet he himself had never shaken the hand of anybody.

Itachi watched the scene with a hint of amusement spread across his face at his brother's bewilderment. Then he turned a cautious eye over Naruto. From what he had just witnessed it seemed as if the boy was already being taught the lessons of a man, a solid businessman at that. Naruto had said that he had been overthinking something just before and he couldn't help but wonder just what was going through the five year olds mind. Did the boy even have a childhood or was he simply being groomed for something else?

"So what are you going to teach us?" asked Naruto as he looked across to the older boy. In his mind flashes of possibilities raged: triple backflips, shooting fireballs from his hands and vanishing in a puff of smoke to name a few.

"Over the next week I'm going to be teaching the two of you dozens of different things, stuff that you wouldn't usually learn until the first couple years of the academy," stated Itachi as he looked at the two boys who were paying him their utmost attention. "And the first thing I'm going to teach you, is how to stretch properly."

"Stretching?" complained Naruto.

"Yes, is there a problem with that?" questioned Itachi.

"Could you explain how stretching is going to help us become kick ass ninjas?" asked Naruto.

"Of course," said Itachi. "Stretching your muscles on a daily basis allows you to increase the flexibility of your body, allowing you to do more techniques in the when your body is capable of doing them. It is also allows you to watch your progress as you find yourself being able to execute harder and harder moves that you couldn't do before as your body wasn't flexible enough to do them beforehand. Is that a good enough explanation?"

"Definitely," said Naruto rubbing his hands together, coming to understand what Itachi was saying. Basically, this was a building block to what could potentially come in the future. Without taking these simple steps he would cripple his chances in the long run.

"I'm going to run the two of you through a twenty minute stretching exercise that I want you to memorize and do on a daily routine. Each morning this week we will always start with these stretches before moving on to something else, including a various number of kata."

"Kata?" questioned Naruto, never having heard the term before.

"Kata are movement patterns that teach us the basics of how to execute certain techniques in a controlled environment. These patterns have been passed down for hundreds of years and are the original building blocks for a number of martial arts," explained Itachi. "While I will teach you a handful this week you can also find more in scrolls in the library."

"I've got to go there in the next few days," muttered Naruto under his breath.

"Brother, are we going to learn any jutsu?" asked Sasuke.

"Not with what I have planned, but that being said I can at least show you a few things provided you both do well in these lessons," said Itachi, knowing exactly how to push the buttons of the two boys. "Shall we begin?"

Just like that Itachi began to teach the two boys what he had learnt in the academy. He wasn't planning on doing anything too overstrenuous, while he had become a genin at their age neither one of them was truly ready to take on such a burden. He had climbed through the rankings at a steady pace and he tended not to show off during missions and simply did the objective to the level that it needed to be done. Having successfully completed so many missions with a hundred percent success rate, he was looking at joining the ANBU next year. Even though he probably could have joined either this year or the last he had decided to hold back so that he could spend more time with his brother as the boy was growing up.

"Alright, that concludes the stretching," said Itachi as the two boys felt limbered up. "We will begin with that exercise every day this week and I hope the two of you will continue to do it well after I have finished training you."

Naruto looked down at himself and shook his arms and legs slightly. The positions he had been taking wouldn't even have come to his mind but he didn't doubt Itachi's judgement, he had felt tightness in his muscles and knew that this was a step in the right direction. "So what are you going to teach us now?" he asked.

"Well, I'll need to get a grasp of your abilities at this point, so I want the two of you to spar. Try to prevent yourself from seriously injuring yourselves but give it everything you've got."

Sasuke slightly grimaced at his brother's instructions, how was he meant to give it everything he had if he couldn't injure his training partner.

Itachi watched as his brother and the young Uzumaki turned to face one another. He knew that Sasuke had already begun studying Taijutsu and would likely need somebody to test his skills against. As for Naruto, he had been told how he often gotten into scuffles at the orphanage and had grasped a bit of a brawler technique that he'd immediately need to beat out of the young boy's system. A brawler fighting off one on one against a fully fledged ninja rarely ever got too far. "Begin," he announced as he leapt a small distance away as to get a better view of the spar.

Neither Sasuke nor Naruto made too many big moments as they both shifted into different stances. Sasuke, who stood in the basic stance he had been taught, eyed off what he was facing and didn't quite know how to proceed. The number of openings in Naruto's stance, if it could even be called that, was ridiculous. He didn't know whether or not even attacking Naruto would be a good idea at this point until the blonde haired boy spoke up.

"Show me what you got Sasuke," said Naruto as he used an extended palm to beckon Sasuke to make the first move. Taking this as his cue, Sasuke charged forward and quickly closed the gap between them, much to Naruto's surprise before Sasuke drove his elbow into the blonde's chest with a good deal of force. From his standing point Itachi thought that the blow would have been a little overkill for a first move but understood that he would undoubtedly have to work on improving Naruto's guard. Yet he thought that Naruto would have been winded from such a blow, any normal kid their age would be on the ground in tears yet Naruto didn't even seem to be phased by it as he made his counter.

With Sasuke in such close quarters he used one arm to wrap around Sasuke's neck, holding the young Uchiha in place before he repetitively begin punching his opponent in the chest. There was no serious force behind any of the blows but the sheer number of them was quickly wearing Sasuke's endurance down. With all the force he could muster, he pushed his way out of Naruto's grasp and quickly got some ground between them, using this brief period to recover some energy. His reprieve would not last long however as Naruto chased after Sasuke, intending on not letting the Uchiha recover as he lashed out with a frontal kick which thanks to his earlier stretching he was able to aim at Sasuke's chin.

Tilting his head back, Sasuke was able to avoid the blow and quickly kick out at Naruto's other leg, knocking him off balance and to the ground. While he hadn't studied any actual techniques with how to deal with a downed opponent, Sasuke took this as the best time as any to improvise as he leapt on top of Naruto and readied to punch the boy in the face. Yet what he didn't know was that Naruto had been in this position plenty of times before and knew exactly how to reverse such a simple brawling manoeuvre. Ten seconds later Sasuke found his head pushed into the ground with one arm being pulled behind his back as Naruto sat on top of him with a cheeky grin upon his face.

"With that I believe Naruto is the winner," said Itachi as he appeared next to where the two had finished. To say that he had been surprised by the result was an understatement, at the beginning of the spar he had undoubtedly thought that he would be congratulating his brother on his victory but it seemed that it wasn't meant to be. "Now, I'm going to have the two of you fight again tomorrow and the day after, in doing so I want you to learn from your mistakes. Naruto, what's the one thing you're going to take out of the spar with Sasuke?"

"That he's faster than me, that elbow really hurt," said Naruto as he rubbed the stricken area. If he hadn't been taking endurance training with Renku over the past months he would have been out for the count for sure.

"Sasuke, what about you?" asked Itachi, wondering just what it was that his brother would take out of it.

The young Uchiha wasn't sure just how to respond, there were several things he had learnt in the very short fight. He had been taunted in to making a big move right off the bat that had little effect and left himself vulnerable, then when the next opportunity arose he acted on impulse which in turn lost him the bout. He spoke up about these things and Itachi nodded in understanding.

"Alright then, for the next three hours I'm going to teach the two of you how to punch and kick correctly, in a way that won't hyperextend your joints and leave you vulnerable. Then for the last hour I'll teach you the first kata that I learnt which I want the two of you to memorize and repeat ten times tonight before you go to bed. Am I understood?"

"Yes sensei," said Naruto cheerfully as Sasuke nodded in agreement. Yet Itachi's training would only be the beginning of their day.

...

"Don't worry, it'll be fine," said Naruto as he walked with Sasuke down the dark alleyways that led to his home.

"I know brother was fine with his but I'm still nervous, I mean this is meant to be your private lesson and all," said Sasuke as he continued to wonder whether or not this was a good idea.

"I spent all morning learning with your brother, it's only fair that my teacher teaches you in return," said Naruto.

"I'm still not sure," came the worried voice of Sasuke.

"Doesn't matter, we're here now," said Naruto as he stood at the front entrance, quickly opening the door and gesturing Sasuke to follow him. With one final look over his shoulder at some shady people who were eyeing up the young boy, Sasuke thought it best to follow on his new friend's advice and joined Naruto inside his home. While Naruto had gotten used to the sight of the silken drapes that were the only thing blocking the view of what lay behind, Sasuke had not and the boy's curiosity peaked as he reached forward to grab at one of the curtains only for Naruto to quickly grab his hand. "Trust me, if you do that it's going to hurt, a lot," said Naruto recalling his own experiences of looking in when unannounced. It didn't matter whether or not there was a client or not, some of the women who worked here had other ways to entertain themselves.

"Naruto, that you?" called out Makina from the kitchen. Hearing his name being called, Naruto practically dragged Sasuke through the corridors until the two boys came into the kitchen where Makina was waiting for the blonde. For her to see another boy in his presence was a surprise but not totally unexpected. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Uchiha Sasuke," introduced Naruto. "Sasuke, this is my teacher, Makina."

"Uchiha huh, I think your uncle was in a couple of weeks ago but that's not for me to say," said Makina with a shrug of the shoulders, immediately making Sasuke wonder just what one of his relatives was doing in a place like this. "I was going to go over basic multiplication with you today but since you have a friend I'm going to give you a small lesson which I want you to remember for the rest of your lives."

"Rest of our lives," repeated Sasuke, wondering just what it was that Naruto was learning in this environment.

"Sounds great," said Naruto as he watched Makina go to the nearby cupboard and pull out three plastic cups and put them on the table.

"This is a little trick I learnt a few years ago to make a few coins on the street but the lesson I'm going to teach you is different altogether," said Makina as she turned the cups upside down. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a small coin and placed it underneath one of the cups so that it was hidden from view. "I want the two of you to find the coin," she said as she started shifting the cups around one another, repetitively changing the order of motions as Sasuke and Naruto followed the right cup with their eyes. Eventually she came to a stop and gestured for the two of them to select a cup.

"That one," declared Naruto as he pointed at the middle cup, Sasuke pointing alongside him believing it was the same as the one Naruto selected.

"Very good," said Makina as she lifted up the cup to reveal the coin before hiding it once again. "Try to keep up this time."

Once again Makina started to shuffle the cups but at a much faster rotation than before, one that the two boys struggled to keep up with despite their keen eyesight. Eventually she came to a stop and once again gestured for them to select a cup. This time though Naruto and Sasuke selected different cups, not having been able to keep up with Makina's pace one of the two had gotten lost at some stage. With both hands Makina lifted up the two cups that had been selected to reveal that neither of the boys had been right in their selection.

"Whoa, you got us both," said Naruto startled that both he and Sasuke had gotten it wrong. After all the odds had been in their favor that one of them would have been right.

"No matter what the two of you would have selected you would have lost," said Makina with a cheeky grin.

"Wait a second," said Sasuke as he reached across the table and lifted up the final cup to reveal that the coin wasn't under that cup either.

"Are you a magician?" shouted Naruto, wondering just where the hell the coin had gone.

"I wish kid," chuckled Makina. "It doesn't matter how I did but the two of you need to know that I successfully scammed the both of you, there was no chance that either of you would win. If you had put money on selecting the right cup that money would now belong to me. This is just a small type of scam, out there in the real world people try to scam good working businessmen and women out of everything that they own through different means and methods. The one thing I want the two of you to take out of this lesson is to avoid getting scammed. While small ones like this are hard to avoid, there will always be some way of seeing through bigger ones that can cost you a lot more than you bargained for."

"Is there a name for these kinds of people?" asked Sasuke, curiosity getting the better of him.

"Con-artists," answered Makina. "People who make a living by taking away from others."

"Alright, stay away from con-artists and don't get scammed," said Naruto absorbing the information.

"Anyways, we'll get back to our usual lessons tomorrow kid, for now why don't the two of you go out and play or something, whatever it is that kids your age do," said Makina dismissing the two five year olds with a wave of the back of her hand.

"You want to go to the park?" Naruto asked of his new friend.

"I guess," said Sasuke unsure of just how much more of the enthusiastic blonde he could take.

Makina watched with a smile as the two boys ran off before she picked up the plasti cups to return them to their home in the cupboard when she spotted Boss standing in the nearby doorway opposite the one that the two boys had run through. "Boss, I didn't see you there," said Makina apologetically.

"Well I didn't expect you to give the boys such a good lesson," appraised Boss having watched the whole scenario play out. Since both of the boys had had their attention on the cups and Makina's back had been turned away from him he had practically been invisible throughout the whole lesson. "Keep up the good work."

Makina didn't get a chance to say anything else as Boss headed down the hallway. As she finished putting her equipment away she realised that she now had the rest of the day to herself. With the sun shining outside she decided it was as good a time as any to go visit the hot springs and relax a few hours, it wasn't like there was anything better to do at that time of day anyways.

...

"Really, you've never had ramen?" questioned Naruto as he and Sasuke went back and forth on the swing set.

"My aunt always makes the meals for the family, I've never even had a meal outside the clan compound," answered Sasuke.

"You need to get out more," replied Naruto as he turned his attention forward.

"This is the first time I've actually been out of the compound without someone watching over me," said Sasuke as he started to realise just how much of a sheltered life he had been living.

"I can't say that I've done much different, Boss often takes me out for dinner sometimes but no matter where he takes me it's always for some other business and I'm just there to watch and learn," said Naruto. He had to thank Boss though, from one of these outings the boy had gotten his first taste of the heavenly broth known as ramen. It turned out that one of the biggest ramen vendors in Konoha had actually been in a great deal of debt. Boss had relieved them of said debt a few years ago on the pretence that they eventually pay back the money in full and provided both him and any guests that he brought to free ramen for life. The debt had been cleared up a year later and now Boss just went there for a casual meal every once in a while just to check up on the business. When he had brought Naruto for a meal he had given the owner a small lump sum to ensure that Naruto would be entitled to the same benefits with or without Boss in tow.

"So is his name actually Boss?" asked Sasuke.

"Possibly, I haven't heard anybody else call him any other names," said Naruto. "I've just gotten used to it I guess. I don't even call him dad now that I think about it. I'm just happy that I got out of the orphanage when I did, don't think I could have stayed in there much longer."

"I can imagine," said Sasuke. While he had never been to the orphanage he could only imagine what it would have been like to be surrounded by people who had lost their parents for one reason or another.

"Anyways, I'm getting hungry, come on I'll treat you to some ramen," said Naruto as he leapt off of the swing set while still in motion, landing softly on his feet as Sasuke repeated the motion and landed beside him. Sasuke was going to argue but his stomach caught him off as he realised he hadn't ate anything since before the training with Itachi. "C'mon it's this way."

Sasuke took off, following Naruto as the blonde sprinted through the park clearly enjoying himself. From behind him he watched as mothers seemed to grip their children tighter as Naruto passed by, as if afraid of the boy. In the same respect he had seen people deliberately avoiding the two of them down the street when they had walked to Naruto's place together. Was this just because he was connected with this Boss character or was it something else entirely? It happened again later on when they had ordered their food. The small establishment had been quiet that afternoon and as Naruto and Sasuke ate their fill Sasuke had noticed that somebody had walked in looking for a meal only to turn away moments later as if their mind had done a complete turn around at the sight of the blonde. He couldn't really think that it was anything else, they had obviously come in for something to eat and had changed their minds almost instantaneously. He wanted to know why but he just had this feeling that asking questions wouldn't get him anywhere. It seemed like most adults knew what this secret was and were determined not to say anything vocally but just let their actions speak for them. Perhaps later in the week he would invite Naruto to his clan compound and see how his father behaved around the young blonde.

"Great as always Teuchi," declared Naruto as he finished off his bowl of ramen, causing Sasuke to look down at his own bowl to find that he had barely gotten through half. Just how fast did Naruto eat?

"Glad you liked it," said Teuchi as he went about cleaning the utensils that he had used to make the boys' meals.

"Here we go son," came an awfully cheery voice as a new couple of customers entered the establishment. Sasuke immediately recognised the older one as the head of the Akimichi clan, having met him once before when he had come to the Uchiha compound for dinner one night.

"Awesome," said the son as he sat next to Naruto, deeply inhaling the wonderful smells that were coming from the kitchen.

"Hey, how we going?" asked Naruto to the new boy that had sat down beside him.

"Excited, I heard that the food here is something amazing," said Chouji as he wondered just how many bowls his father would treat him to.

"Trust me, it is," said Naruto wondering whether or not he could go another bowl before he extended his hand to the boy. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you."

"Akimichi Chouji," introduced the young boy as he took Naruto's hand. "Is there anything on the menu that you'd recommend?"

"Chouji my boy, you came to the right kid for advice," said Naruto with a smile at the thought of making a second friend in a single day, not overcomplicating the situation in his mind this time round. Meanwhile Sasuke watched with curiosity at the friendliness between the two, even the fact that Chouji hadn't shyed away from the handshake. Placing his chopsticks to the side, he held his hand in front of Naruto towards the Akimichi heir.

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke, nice to meet you," said Sasuke trying to sound as sincere as possible.

"Chouji," replied the boy as his eyes drifted to the bowl sitting in front of the young Uchiha. "Hey Sasuke, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," replied Sasuke wondering just what it was that he had gotten himself in to.

"Are you going to finish that?" asked Chouji pointing at the unfinished ramen.

From his position at the end of the counter, Chouza couldn't help but smile at the banter between the three kids and he knew that the next generation was going to be a lot of fun to watch grow up.

...

"So what do you guys want to do now?" asked Chouji as he munched on a packet of chips he had been carrying this whole time. Under instructions from his father he was to spend the rest of the afternoon with both Sasuke and Naruto and get to know the two of them better.

"Well your dad's the head of the Akimichi clan, right?" asked Sasuke pretty sure he already knew the answer.

"That's my pops," said Chouji as he plucked another chip out of the packet.

"So has he taught you any fighting styles yet?" asked Sasuke, wondering how a clan heir was progressing as a potential leader. Chances were that one day both he and Chouji would sit upon opposite sides of the council chambers debating about several mundane topics, or at least it would be so on days that Itachi was out of Konoha. It seemed logical that if he followed the path of a ninja that his father had that he may have learnt something by now.

"Not really," admitted Chouji never losing his cheerful disposition. "I'm not going to pressure my father into teaching me anything for a while, I'm not in too much of a rush."

"But," said Naruto quickly piping up, "If an opportunity arose where you could learn something, with or without your father's help, would you be interested?"

"Are you guys going to teach me?" asked Chouji getting excited.

"Well I will, I mean I only know the stuff that Sasuke's brother taught us this morning but it's a start isn't it," said Naruto enthusiastically. "Anyways there's that saying that goes, those who don't do teach...or something like that, I'm not too sure but it doesn't mean I don't want to do but I can teach, am I making sense?"

"Enough sense for me," said Chouji as he slung his arm over Naruto's shoulders as if they were best buds.

"Sweet, hey Sasuke you want to come help me teach Chouji that kata your brother taught us?" asked Naruto to the other member of the group.

"Now you're doing my kind of stuff," said Sasuke with a smile as the three of them headed towards the nearest training ground, unaware that they were being followed. Keeping as well hidden as he could, Chouza couldn't help but follow his son. Deep down he just wanted to see his son socialize with kids his own age that weren't blood related. Sure he had spent plenty of times with his cousins but never had he really had a friend outside of the family, and yet with a simple bowl of ramen he had practically made the best of friends with the blonde haired Naruto.

He knew just who Naruto was and the burden he bared but he would never stoop so low as to ignore the boy and shun him away like some diseased animal. If Chouji ever wanted the boy to come over for dinner one night he would be right there in the kitchen helping make a wonderful meal for the boys to share. He could just imagine the two boys looking up to him in wonder and awe as he told stories about how he and his teammates had successfully completed a number of missions together and how they became known as one of the best three man groups Konoha had ever produced, minus the Sannin of course.

Despite his large body, the head of the Akimichi clan had no real problem hiding from the three boys. If they were actively looking for him then he wouldn't have remained hidden too long but for the moment it was quite safe to hide in plain sight. He found it intriguing though that instead of heading somewhere where other kids would be playing and having fun they were making their way towards a training ground that wasn't currently in use. Remaining hidden in the shade of a tall tree, Chouza watched as Naruto showed Chouji a simple fighting kata and then repeated it with Chouji joining in and following Naruto's movements, Sasuke helping out by making slight adjustments to Chouji's stance and where he struck out at an imaginary opponent.

Chouza hadn't particularly wanted to teach his son anything at that young age, while he would undoubtedly become a great ninja one day he was by no means a prodigy. Yet here he was learning and laughing with boys his own age as they went over a simple exercise that they went through picking up on the mistakes that each of them made in order to improve it the next time round.

...

"Whew, that was exhausting," said Chouji after having repeating the same movements in a continuous loop for the last hour. The Akimichi's muscles weren't used to such strenuous activity and he was nearly completely out of energy.

"Tell me about it," said Naruto as he collapsed on top of the grass, soaking in the suns rays.

"And you guys learnt this earlier today?" asked Chouji.

"My brother taught us that just this morning, along with some other stuff," said Sasuke as he remained standing.

"Is he going to be teaching you guys anything else?" asked Chouji curiously.

"Yep, we're meeting up here again tomorrow morning for the next lesson," said Naruto with a smile as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"Would you guys be able to teach me again tomorrow afternoon, if it's not too much trouble with you guys?" asked Chouji wondering if the three of them would be able to meet up again the next day and do the same kind of thing.

"I might be busy tomorrow afternoon," said Naruto knowing that he had a lesson with Makina booked. As Chouji's mood seemed to deflate slightly the blonde came up with a brilliant idea. "Why don't you come here tomorrow morning and join us in the lesson that Sasuke's brother is going to give us?"

"Naruto, are you sure that we should just be inviting people to brother's training session?" asked Sasuke wondering if Itachi would be alright with it.

"From the deal Itachi made with Boss, it was only meant to be me and him originally but you came along, so I don't see what would be wrong with bringing along somebody else," said Naruto. While he wasn't sure of the facts down to the smallest detail, he was pretty confident that Sasuke would believe what he had said.

"If you say so, but if brother gets angry you're the one taking the blame," said Sasuke hoping that it would all be fine.

"Deal," said Naruto as if he was signing off on some big business deal.

"Wait, so what does that mean?" asked Chouji as if he had missed a specific detail.

"It means that you're telling your father that you're going to be meeting us here at sunrise tomorrow morning for a solid training session," said Naruto as he got to his feet and placed his hand on Chouji's shoulder. Chouji stood there in stunned silence for a moment, wondering just what it was that his father would say when he asked him if he could leave the clan compound so early in the morning.

...

"So what did you say?" asked Inoichi as he drank from his sake cup.

"I told him that I'd take him to the training ground personally in the morning," boasted Chouza as he poured himself another drink.

"Shout louder next time, I'm pretty sure the whole bar didn't hear you," said Shikaku with a sigh. "I wish I had that kind of energy to be able to take my son to join in this little group activity so early in the morning."

"Then don't stress yourself too much, just make sure he's awake before dawn and I'll come pick him up on the way to the training ground," said Chouza. "I'm sure if Shikamaru gets into a regular pattern then he might even break out of your bad habits."

"That'll be the day," said Inoichi with a chuckle, knowing full well that all male Nara's were practically destined to be lazy for the entirety of their lives.

"What about you then, do you want me to pick up young Ino on the way through?" asked Chouza.

"My little darling won't wake until the sun is already in the sky, last time I woke her up earlier I had to get my ears checked out down the hospital," said Inoichi, cringing about the experience. Chouza was about to speak up again but was cut off as one other person quickly joined in on the conversation.

"If you're doing house calls in the morning, you want to pick up another pup on the way through?"

...

"So I take it your day was eventful," said Boss as he sat on the end of Naruto's bed, the blonde already tucked under the sheets eagerly awaiting for the next morning to come around.

"I made two friends today, it was so good," said Naruto with a smile.

"Are they both going to be training with you tomorrow?" asked Boss.

"Yep, and then after that lesson has finished I'm going to come here and study with Makina," said Naruto.

"Don't worry about that, spend the week with your friends and you'll catch up on your studies later down the track," said Boss.

"Really?" questioned Naruto, his eyes lighting up with hope.

"Of course, because this is going to be one lesson that only you can teach yourself," said Boss.

"What lesson's that?" asked Naruto.

"Sometimes it's not what you know, but who you know."

...

Once more, Naruto found himself standing in the middle of the training ground well before the sun had risen. As Itachi had instructed he had done the kata a further ten times before he had gone to bed and was eagerly looking forward to what his sensei would be teaching him today. The first rays of light began to creep over the clearing as Naruto spotted both Itachi and Sasuke walking towards where he was standing. Yet there was one person who was missing and Naruto couldn't see any sign of the Akimichi heir and Naruto suddenly felt sad that his new friend may not have been given permission to come and join them that morning.

"Morning Naruto," said Itachi as he closed the gap between the two of them, Sasuke following by his side.

"Morning," replied Naruto putting on a cheery disposition despite his quick change in attitude.

"Sasuke told me that you invited somebody else to join us this morning, I hope he's up to the challenge," said Itachi happy to be helping the next generation of Konoha ninja.

"I think the word might have spread," said Sasuke as he looked off to the side to find four people walking to where the group was standing.

"Sorry we're late," said Chouza as he stood in front of the class. "Shikamaru here was a bit of a hassle to get out of bed this morning."

"It was way too troublesome," said the Nara clan heir wishing he was still within the comfort of his own bed.

"Unlike Shikamaru, Kiba here was more than eager to jump on the bandwagon," said Chouza indicating the other boy who had joined.

"I'm so excited," said Kiba practically bubbling with the same energy that Naruto usually had.

"I trust teaching the five of them will be no trouble for you Itachi," said Chouza, hoping he hadn't overstepped any boundaries by bringing more children then the original deal.

"I'll figure something out," said Itachi as his mind tried to comprehend just what he was going to do in order to make this day as productive as possible.

"Good to hear. Chouji, I expect you back at the house before sundown and I want to hear all about your day," said Chouza as he separated from the small group that had followed him here.

"Bye dad," shouted Chouji as he waved to the retreating figure before turning towards Itachi.

The young Uchiha found it somewhat unnerving as five sets of eyes stared up at him waiting for instruction. Like all kids he knew that the five of them would be full of energy (except possibly the Nara) and he needed a way to burn some of that out of them quickly so that they could fully focus on the tasks ahead. Thankfully, he knew a couple of methods to keep them occupied. "Alright boys," said Itachi as he reached into his back pocket and plucked out a handful of kunai. With precise aim he sent them scattering around the clearing, each kunai impaling into the ground to form a circle around the group. "First thing today is I want the five of you to run ten laps around the kunai. Ready, go!"

For a moment none of the children did anything as they looked at one another in confusion. Clearly Itachi hadn't given them enough of a hint so the older Uchiha knew that he had to motivate them another way. "Whoever completes their laps first will get a prize." None of the kids were within ten metres of him five seconds after he said that. "Kids," said Itachi with a slight shake of the head, that simple reward was all he needed. He knew exactly how to push their buttons and how to get the best out of them today. Two things were for sure. Firstly he was going to enjoy teaching these children the basics to fighting. Secondly, he needed to figure out a worthwhile prize to give the winner of this race.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**It was a complete storm outside today, what better way then to write a solid chapter. Originally it was going to end about halfway but I didn't have access to the internet at the time so I just thought, might as well keep going.**

**Iryelb: Hopefully this has enough meat for you.**

**Rickjames196: Trust me, this house is more likely to kill me at the moment, I need to move pronto.**

**Until next time. Ja ne.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

Hands on his knees and his breakfast threatening to make a special return visit after having done the running task that Itachi had set out for them. That being said he only felt this way after having pushed himself to the limit with the knowledge that there was a prize to be had at the end. He had no idea what he had just won but at least his ego had been given a boost.

"Congratulations Naruto," said Itachi as he patted the blonde haired boy on the back as both Sasuke and Kiba completed the run with little space between them as both Chouji and Shikamaru lazily jogged around the circle, knowing full well they still had another three laps to go. "Hopefully you didn't burn out all of your energy just in the warm up."

"I'm...good," said Naruto through deep breaths as sweet oxygen made it's way back into his lungs. "What'd...I...win?"

"Ah, about that, I've just sent a clone to go pick something up which I believe will be a suitable reward for your efforts," said Itachi. "Until then you'll just have to wait for it."

"Fine," sighed Naruto as he pushed himself into an upright position.

"Wow you're fast," said Kiba exhaustedly as he congratulated Naruto on his run. During the first lap the five students had made quick introductions with one another before either upping or slowing down the tempo as was the case with Chouji and Shikamaru.

Despite being relatively quick on his feet, Sasuke had to admire the speed that Naruto had put in to the winning effort, even if he had nearly brought himself to the point of collapsing by doing so. As for his own performance he was happy to have been able to keep up with the Inuzuka clan member, knowing full well that the clan was well known for it's speed.

"Sasuke," said Itachi getting the attention of his younger brother. "When Shikamaru and Chouji finish their laps I want you to lead the rest of the boys through the stretches that I showed you yesterday."

"You're not going to be leading us?" asked Sasuke.

"Think of this as a test straight away," said Itachi as he placed a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder. "This is a test to see how much of yesterday's lesson you remember as well as to see if you can instruct your peers through a very basic routine. Years from now when you're leading your team into a potentially dangerous mission you have to be very precise and exact with your orders as sometimes the smallest wrong detail can lead to everything going wrong. You understand?"

"Yes," said Sasuke as he realised that Itachi was slowly prepping him for the future ahead.

"Good, you can begin as soon as the last two finish their final lap," said Itachi.

Another couple of minutes passed before the last two crossed the finish line and Sasuke stood in front of them nervously. While he had been focusing on this mentally beforehand now that the actual situation was in front of him he couldn't help but feel his hands start to shake. Closing his eyes, he breathed in deeply trying to calm himself knowing full well that not only were his four peers waiting for his instructions but Itachi was watching from his every move from nearby. "Alright," he said as he finally composed himself as he began doing the first stretch that Itachi had shown them and watched as the other kids copied his movements in a mirror image which helped to break the nerves almost instantly.

With every passing stretch he gained more and more confidence but was brought back down to Earth as Naruto piped up during one step and mentioned how Sasuke had forgotten about one of the calf stretches they had been shown the day before. Apart from that minor hiccup the rest of the exercise went off without a hitch before Itachi stepped back into the teaching role. For the first hour he put them through basic workout material ranging from push ups to jumping jacks, simple things that would help improve their general fitness levels.

Like how Itachi had gotten Sasuke to lead in the stretches, Naruto was chosen to lead the group through the kata that the older Uchiha had taught the two students the day before. Sasuke couldn't help but watch Naruto and picture himself standing beside only an hour earlier. While he had been nervous about standing in front of his peers Naruto seemed to absorb the attention and respond in better fashion by putting emphasis on something so simple. Every step was fluid and the way the Naruto was explaining it put the demonstration Sasuke had given to shame.

"Alright, I want all of you to repeat that kata ten times before you go to bed tonight," instructed Itachi as Naruto concluded his demonstration. "While the moves are simple and repetitive sometimes muscle memory is one of the things that will save you out on the battlefield. It is not uncommon for instinct to kick in and provided your instinct is good enough it can even be enough to swing the tide of battle back into your favour."

"So what do you want us to do now?" asked Shikamaru as his gaze drifted upwards towards the clouds that had started to drift across the sky.

"I'm going to have the three newcomers take on Naruto and Sasuke," said Itachi as he indicated towards the two boys.

"Isn't that a bit unfair brother?" asked Sasuke wondering whether he had it in him to take on the numbers advantage.

"There will be times when the situation you face is unfavourable," said Itachi speaking from experience. "Both the team with the numbers and the team with fewer members have to face different obstacles. The smaller group will always need to fight safely and be on the defensive until they can find an opening. Meanwhile the numbers have to be careful that they don't get overconfident and underestimate the enemy, as overconfidence can easily be your downfall in any given situation."

Taking the information in the five kids quickly realised that this wasn't just a lesson for today but for every future mission that they ever took. It didn't take them long to line up against the other group as information quickly bounced from team member to team member as they tried to come up with a plan to go against their opposing teams. Seeing that they were constructing strategies, Itachi told them that they only had another thirty seconds to spare, stating that they wouldn't be given the luxuries of time in a sudden encounter.

"Begin!" shouted Itachi at the end of the given time as he moved away from the battlefield as the two groups began their assault, or so he would have thought. Knowing of the Nara on their side, Itachi had figured that the strategy that would be held by the numbers would have the utmost advantage in this situation, more pieces on the board as it would seem. With their limited timeframe, the older Uchiha figured that the three man squad would provide a divide and conquer method, most likely Kiba and Chouji targeting Naruto and putting him out of the bout so that the three of them could tackle Sasuke without any hassle from an outside party. Yet this was all provided that Sasuke and Naruto acted how he thought they would by standing their ground and confronting them head on. What he was watching now however was completely different as he watched the three man team chase Naruto and Sasuke as the two boys led the bigger group towards and eventually into the forest. Giving chase himself, Itachi couldn't help but wonder which of the two boy's had constructed this strategy.

Shikamaru sighed as he along with Chouji and Kiba raced after the two boys. This had not been how he had thought the two would react and hadn't planned accordingly, he wasn't even sure if this idea would have crossed his mind even if he had had more time to think. Now he had to come up with a new plan on the fly against opponents who knew what they were doing, at least to some degree. "Kiba, can you keep track of them?" he asked, knowing full well the abilities that the Inuzuka clan member had.

"I've already got their scent," said Kiba as he leapt over a large branch.

"Good, cause we're going to take another route," said Shikamaru as he led both Chouji and Kiba off to the right and out of sight.

...

Looking over his shoulder, Naruto noticed that they were no longer being followed and thus signalled for Sasuke to stop. The two boys quickly came to a halt in a small clearing. "Do you think we lost them?" asked Naruto.

"All we've done is run in a straight line, somehow I think they're still chasing us," said Sasuke. "Plus Kiba's and Inuzuka, meaning that he's probably got our scent already."

"Wait, what do you mean?" asked Naruto unsure of what Sasuke was pointing out.

"Kiba's clan have a really good sense of smell, they probably diverged from the path knowing that they can blindside," said Sasuke.

"Damn, I never would have thought of something like that," said Naruto. "So even though they can't see us they're still following us."

"Yep," said Sasuke as he looked around at the different openings that they could be ambushed from.

"Give me your shirt and jacket," said Naruto.

"What?" questioned Sasuke a little louder than he probably should have.

"I've got an idea," said Naruto with a cheeky little grin.

...

"So they're just through there," said Chouji as he laid in wait alongside Kiba and Shikamaru.

"Yep, are you two ready?" asked Kiba.

"Okay, remember the plan," said Shikamaru.

"Got it," said Chouji as he burst forward through the bushes closely followed by his two friends as they pounced into the clearing which Kiba had said that Naruto and Sasuke were located. To a certain degree Kiba had been correct but his sense of smell had led them to where the two boy's upper clothing resided on the ground, the sweaty articles of clothing having been enough to lure Kiba's sense of smell towards them.

"Get back," shouted Shikamaru but it was too late as the topless forms of Naruto and Sasuke charged forward from opposite sides as they converged on the larger group with their fists already in attacking position.

...

Itachi looked at the five boys standing in front of him with torn and bloodied shirts as well as scrapes and bruises upon most of their skin. While their idea had been sound and would have been completely successful had they had more of an arsenal of weaponry and skills, the counter ambush had just turned into a melee style brawl as the numbers game fought back against the surprise attack. To call either side victorious would have been a joke as there really was no clear winner. From now on he would stick on having the group fight each other in one on one confrontations, he didn't think another lesson like that would be necessary over the coming days.

"Alright guys, since I only have you for another hour I'm going to have you do a bit of kunai training," said Itachi as he deposited the arsenal he had sent a clone to go and pick up. It had taken a little chunk out of his mission pay but it would be worth it in the end, or so he figured. To anybody else watching they would likely say it was a little irresponsible for the Uchiha to give a bunch of kids dangerous weapons without any prior training but that was what he was there for as he helped the boys with how to throw the sharp objects. His clone had debated on whether or not to buy blunted weapons but there was always a minor deviation in the angle the kunai travelled so he figured to go with the real weaponry all the way; after all it was better to learn with the right equipment to begin with rather than have to change technique when switching from false kunai.

Over the hour Itachi helped the five boys, making small adjustments that helped their technique in a way that they would be able to improve over time. It was common sense that there was no perfect way to throw a kunai but rather everybody had their own way and would need to learn in time how such tactics were comfortable to them. "...And that's the end of the lesson," announced Itachi.

"Couldn't you stay and teach us a bit more?" asked Kiba having really enjoyed the lesson.

"Sadly no," said Itachi. "I've actually got to go be on hand for the peace treaty signing between Konoha and Kumo that's happening this evening."

"That's alright," said Chouji having had enough of training for the day. Despite being taught the basics from Sasuke and Naruto the day before he was completely exhausted and needed a solid meal to refuel his energy.

"Before I forget, this is for you Naruto," said Itachi as he held out a kunai pouch. "Your prize for the race this morning."

"Thank you!" shouted Naruto as he took the gift. He reached down and strapped it to his leg and bent down to pick up a nearby kunai to place into his gift only to get cut off by Itachi.

"As much as I'd like to give you a kunai as well, I think it'd be a little difficult to explain when you got home tonight where you had gotten a weapon from, and you wouldn't want to get me into any trouble or anything now would you," said Itachi knowing that allowing the blonde to walk out of the training ground with a kunai simply would be asking for trouble.

"Okay," said Naruto as he left the kunai where it was.

"Alright then, with that being said and done I'll see the five of you here again tomorrow morning," said Itachi as he dismissed the boys. He watched with a smile as they turned around to go do whatever it was that they had planned for the rest of the day. Wandering around the training ground he spent the next few minutes collecting all of the thrown kunai and gathering them atop a scroll to seal them away. He recalled the exact amount that his clone had purchased but couldn't find one of them for some reason but concluded that one of the kunai had simple been thrown into the tall branches of a tree somewhere and it'd be found by somebody in good time.

...

"Sorry guys, I'd like to stay longer but Mum told me to be home early for dinner, I think she wants me to help feed the pups," said Kiba as he broke apart from the rest of the group. Chouji and Shikamaru had already left due to a prior arrangement between their families as their was the monthly dinner with the Yamanaka family. Chouji seemed to believe that he could convince Ino to come to their training the next morning but Shikamaru was confident that the Yamanaka heiress would refuse to get out of bed before sunrise.

"It's alright, I guess it's getting pretty late anyways," said Naruto as he looked towards the Hokage monument where the rays of the setting sun caused shadows to jump from face to face.

"Well I'll see you two tomorrow morning," shouted Kiba as he ran off towards his clan compound.

"So what now?" asked Sasuke, not particularly wanting to go back home just yet.

"Spar?" questioned Naruto.

"Thought you'd never ask," said Sasuke cheekily.

"Well we can't really head out to the training grounds, by the time we get there the it'll already be dark," noted Naruto.

"Well..." started Sasuke as he looked around the area they were currently in and trying to figure out a solution to their problem quickly. "What about the forest area near the Hyuga compound? That's not too far from here."

"Sounds like a plan," said Naruto as the two boys took off down the street, weaving in-between civilians who were going about their business.

An hour passed when the two decided to call it quits for the night, both of them exhausted and rather beaten. Anybody who would have been watching the playful confrontation would have easily been able to see that while Sasuke was the largely in control of the fight he was by no means winning, Naruto seemingly able to become stronger the more injured he was. From his seated position Sasuke tried to play over the fight in his mind, trying to figure out where he could improve in the future. Comparing himself to the blonde he knew that he needed to work on his stamina, the strength of his blows diminishing significantly over time. By the end of the bout he had barely been able to raise up a guard to counter Naruto's blows.

"That was so much fun," said Naruto ecstatically as he pushed himself up to his feet. "We need to spar every day!"

Sasuke swallowed at the thought of tackling his friend head-on on a daily basis but knew that his skills would improve his skills steadily. While there were lessons he knew he would be taught in time by members of his clan he couldn't help but imagine how much better he would be in the long run if he chose to take up Naruto's offer.

"So...how do we get back to town?" asked Naruto a little unsure of where they were at that moment.

Sasuke thought that he knew the answer but when he looked around at the surroundings he knew that he could give just about as good an answer as Naruto would be able to provide. That being said he was able to see light from nearby and pointed it out. "I think the Hyuga compounds in that direction, we can probably make our way back from there," said Sasuke making several assumptions.

"As good a plan as any," said Naruto as he helped Sasuke up to his feet before the two boys made their way towards the only light source excluding the moon and stars hanging high in the sky. It didn't take the two boys long to make their way through the scrub like forest ad the light got closer and closer. Eventually they made their way out of the undergrowth and into the clearing near where the compound was and were undoubtedly surprised to find a Kumo ninja standing there, the unconscious form of a young girl being held underneath a single arm.

For a few seconds the two groups simply stared at one another, the two boys for having stumbled across what they could only comprehend as a kidnapping while the Kumo ninja couldn't believe that he had been caught so simply. Surprisingly it was Naruto who reacted first, charging forward to assist the young girl whatever way he could, Sasuke quickly responding by following suit.

Whatever little surprise they had went out the window as Naruto found his charge abruptly screeching to a halt as his face was met with the ninja's boot, leaving the blonde a dazed mess on the ground as blood poured from his nose. With the ninja's leg raised though Sasuke saw his chance as he kicked at the enemies grounded leg much like a similar scenario with Naruto the day before. Even though he put everything into the strike, after having trained that morning and spent the last hour sparring against the blonde his attack would barely leave a bruise on the man's leg.

Staring in disbelief as the Kumo ninja towered over him, Sasuke didn't even have the time to block as he found himself backhanded to the ground, his cheek already turning red from the force of the attack. The Kumo ninja though was now able to see the insignia on the back of Sasuke's clothing and immediately recognised it and quickly assessed that this boy was from the Uchiha clan. While he would be rewarded handsomely for bringing the unbranded Hyuga, a young Uchiha would likely give much more of a pay check for his efforts.

His thoughts were quickly shut down as a sharp pain ran across the base of his ankle, Naruto having slashed at his Achilles heel with the kunai he had snuck out of the training ground. A bloodied grin crossed his face as the Kumo ninja dropped to one knee, unable to remain upright with the injury. Whatever confidence he had of getting out of the village unscathed was destroyed as he realised that with his ankle in such a condition he wouldn't even be able to get anywhere close to the village exit.

Looking up, he could see the form of Hiashi Hyuga staring at him, cold hatred held within his eyes and the Kumo ninja knew that suicide was his only option so that the Konoha ninja weren't able to pull too much information out of him. Before that however he would get revenge on the boy who ruined all of his chances as he pulled out a kunai of his own and plunged it into Naruto's stomach sending a splash of blood into the air as Naruto screamed out in pain.

The blonde had never felt anything so painful as he placed a hand over the stabbed area and lifted his palm up to see crimson blood staining his skin. He could hear screams and shouts from around him, to what point and purpose he couldn't tell, every sound just sounded like a muffled blur he couldn't make any sense of. His eyes became heavy as light seemingly faded as the blonde passed out on the path in a growing pool of his own blood.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


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